There are many topical preparations intended for application to unbroken skin. They may be in the form of low- to medium-viscosity lotions or oils, or higher viscosity creams or gels. The topical preparations are applied to external skin with bare hands, a clean cloth, cotton wool or gauze. They are used for all age groups, from newborns to the aging and aged demographic groups.
The therapeutic benefits that come from applying warm topical preparations are numerous. Generally, the preparations that come directly from their containers are cold or cool relative to the skin.
There are many known devices that act as warmers to keep topical preparations at desired warmth. In general, the container with the topical preparation is placed in the device, and the device warms the entire container and the topical preparation contained within. These devices are often sized so as to warm multiple containers with topical preparations.
One limitation of these devices is that they warm the entire contents of the container. If the consumer desires to warm only a portion of the container, they must wait for the entire contents to be warmed before use. Also, there is a waste of energy if the entire contents are warmed and only a small portion of the container is used. In addition, if the consumer plans to use the topical preparations intermittently, then consumer must either keep the container continually in the warming device (wasting energy), or spend time waiting for the entire contents of the container to re-warm each time they wish to use a warm preparation. In some cases, the repeated heating and cooling of the topical preparation results in the degradation of the lotion by chemical (such as oxidation) or physical (such as phase separation).
Topical preparations for application to skin are used by all age groups. Often, warming of the lotions is desired before application. There is a desire to have devices that pre-warm a premeasured amount of a topical preparation from a larger source without warming the full source.